“If you have 100 children in your school, you’re probably going to have one or two kids with autism,” says Zachary Warren. Everyone’s different.”Įven though autism diagnoses are becoming more common, no one knows exactly why. You can be non-verbal and very bright, or just like Matthew: He’s a nice, earnest guy who’s very quirky. “You can be a genius with autism but have no ability to interact with people. “It is such a broad-spectrum disorder: You can have a little bit of autism or a lot of autism,” Laura Shumaker says. Indeed, researchers use the word “spectrum” because autism’s symptoms can vary so much from one person to another. Experts refer to the group as “autism spectrum disorders.” They may repeat over and over the same behavior or action -such as rocking back and forth.Īs a term, “autism” can refer to any of many different (but closely related) disabilities. As a result, affected kids often have trouble interacting with other people. (Her 2008 book - A Regular Guy: Growing Up with Autism - describes her family’s experience.)Īutism changes how the brain develops. “It was really hard because I truly didn’t know anyone else who had a child with autism,” Laura Shumaker says. Eventually, when the boy was 5, an expert diagnosed Matthew with a brain disorder called autism. They were anxious to figure out what was wrong. The Shumakers, who live near San Francisco, took Matthew to doctor after doctor. He focused intently on lights and other objects, yet had trouble looking his parents in the eye. Over the next few years, instead of answering questions, Matthew just repeated them.

Although he had begun to talk like other 1-year-olds by then, Matthew mysteriously stopped soon thereafter. Her son instead peered at the wheels of one toy the whole time. During a group play date, other kids stayed busy exploring a variety of toys - and each other. Laura Shumaker first realized that Matthew was different from other toddlers when he was about a year old. This is the first of a two-part series on autism spectrum disorders.

A Regular Guy by Laura Shumaker